Focus: Rotten to the core

Justice Morriss inquiry into garda corruption is out  and sos the jury as to whether its conclusions went far enough, writes Enda Leahy

The undercover garda patrol car assigned to the surveillance of David Weafer, a notorious Finglas drug dealer, was 300 yards away and out of the line of sight when a gunman killed him with a shotgun.

It was June 1995 and the first of 10 gangland killings in as many months. A Dublin drugs war was turning nasty.

Faced with embarrassment and no leads, Kevin Carty, a chief superintendent in charge of the elite central detective unit, called in John White, one of his most reliable detectives. Only a few months earlier, White had been promoted and stationed in far-off Donegal.

By coincidence, a few hours earlier one of White’s many underworld contacts had phoned offering information. White didn’t care, he was in Letterkenny hospital awaiting the birth of his daughter. But Carty did and White was ordered to Dublin to assist in the investigation.